Formed in 2004, Ghost of the Russian Empire champions a blend of atmospheric dream pop and visceral space rock with the howling intensity of shoegaze interlaced for effect. On The Mammoth, GOTRE’s full length debut and follow-up to their 2006 With Fiercest Demolition EP, the Austin, Texas quartet - particularly wall-of-sound guitarists Jason Pike, Ruben Anchondo (who both double on bass) and Brandon Whitten (whose swirling vocals obscure the lyrics) - creates a sonic environment that manages to balance distortion and density with clarity and delicacy, resulting in a compelling soundtrack that alternately hammers and hypnotizes. The album’s opener, “A Decade Without a Death,” begins gently enough with spaghetti western reverb, then slides inexorably into a full scale sonic assault that seems to approximate the adrenaline and panic of being lost in a blizzard. In the spirit of that metaphor, the next track, “Hammer Hands,” could be the hallucination before rescue or a hypothermic vision of heaven’s gates, either way beginning with quietly chilled reflection and finishing with propulsive anticipation. Like a mutant gene splice of My Bloody Valentine and My Morning Jacket, Ghost of the Russian Empire effectively and beautifully rides the electric tension between spiritual evocation and bludgeoning reality.
--Brian Baker [May 10, 2008]
